Top Earner John Peterson – Herbalife Committed Suicide

by Ted Nuyten on August 17, 2013

According to the New York Post:

"He was living the Herbalife dream.

John Peterson, 58, was a picture-perfect salesman for the nutritional products company, earning millions to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a ranch in Colorado, a beach house in Mexico, exotic vacations and two private aircraft.

The dream was shattered last Sunday when he died from an apparent suicide.

John Peterson was found inside a 2008 Ford pickup parked at his residence in Steamboat Springs, Colo., where he “succumbed to a single gunshot wound,” said Ray Birch, undersheriff for Routt County.

Birch said the initial investigation indicated the gunshot was self-inflicted.

A failed Houston real estate agent in the early 1980s, Peterson joined the controversial multi-level marketing company in its early days.

He became one of only a handful of Herbalife’s 3.2 million distributors who made it to the very elite “Founder’s Circle” of top salespeople.

Last year, Peterson earned an estimated $3 million, according to an independent ranking. He was named Herbalife’s top distributor of the year 10 times.

Peterson boasted of owning a Wyoming cattle ranch and homes in Brazil and in a private beach club in Mexico, in addition to his residence in Colorado."